
Price, 15 Cents g?^\i^tj 




EXEMPTION 



A WAR PLAYLET 



By 
Alice Norris-Lewis 

Author of "The Spy 
at St. Agnes'" 



MARCH BROTHERS, Publishers 

208, 210, 212 Wright Ave., Lebanon, Ohio 




No Entertainments Exchanged 
No Entertainments Sent on Selection or Subject to Return 



EXEMPTION 



A WAR PLAYLET 



BY 

ALICE NORRIS-LEWIS 



fc te ta fc 



MARCH BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS 



£.„4> 



4 



<?$■ 
V 



Copyright, 1918, By 
March Brothers 



TMP96-0C75C1 



D 5<>3:27 



! i 1918 



Exemption 

A war playlet in one act for two males and 
eight females. Time in presentation 30 minutes. 

CHARACTERS 

Ethel Cummings, who does not want her hus- 
band to enlist. 

Harold Cummings, her husband, who enlists in 
spite of her. 

Paula Stickney, a butterfly, who intends to 
claim exemption for her husband who has 
been drafted. 

Dickie Stickney, her husband, with a backbone 
of his own. 

Jean, 

Molly, 

g UE \ Friends of Ethel's and Paula's. 

Ruth, 

Myrtle, 

A Maid. 

COSTUMES 

Strictly modern and fashionable for women. 
United States Army uniform for Harold Cum- 
mings after enlistment. Dickie Stickney, Naval 
uniform. 

3 



4 EXEMPTION 

Scene — Well-furnished living room. Table 
in center. Window at left. Entrance at right. 
[As the curtain rises Ethel Cummings is stand- 
ing beside table in center. Her back is half 
turned towards Harold, who, on the opposite side 
of the table, leans upon it as he speaks very 
slotvly and decidedly.'] 

Harold: My mind is fully made up, and 
nothing can change it. Nothing, Ethel. 

Ethel : Harold ! 

Harold: So far I have listened to you and 
been a slacker. But nobody can make a coward 
of me all the time — not even my wife. 

Ethel : You talk like a brute ! 

Harold: Nothing of the kind. I'm telling 
you the truth, that's all. If I stay out of this 
I shall be ashamed to look people in the face for 
the rest of my life. So I've enlisted in the Six- 
tieth Engineers — for immediate service in 
France. 

Ethel : No, no, not that ! That's the most 
dangerous branch of the service. 

Harold: Dangerous, fiddlesticks! If you 
mean it's the branch that is apt to see some 
smoke and powder, I hope it is. I enlisted to 



EXEMPTION D 

fight — not for some cushy job back of the lines. 
[He goes to Ethel and takes her hand, which she 
lets him hold passively.'] In a way it seems hard, 
little girl, I admit. "But I feel it is up to me. 
It's something that is come my way and I must 
be game. Don't you understand? Can't you? 
You know it isn't' as though I left you to work 
or struggle along on a scanty allowance. You'll 
not miss me so far as money is concerned. 

Ethel [snatching away her hand and going to 
window] : As though I thought of money, 
Harold ! 

Harold: Haven't you a spark of patriotism 
in you? 

Ethel: Not a glimmer where you are con- 
cerned. 

Harold : I'm ashamed of you ! 

Ethel: I'm telling you the truth as you told 
me a few moments ago. 

Harold: There's no use talking any longer. 
I'm going for my uniform. [He goes to win- 
dow and tries to turn Ethel's face towards Ins. 
She shakes off his hand.] Come, be a good 
fellow! [Ethel refuses to turn. Harold shrugs 
his shoulders.] Very well. I'm off. [He strides 
to door, opens it, turns back and speaks.] Ethel ! 
[Ethel does not turn. He goes out and bangs 



6 EXEMPTION 

the door. The moment he is gone Ethel runs 
frantically across the stage, opens the door and 
calls to him. He docs not answer. She runs 
back to window, knocks and calls. He does not 
hear. She flings herself doivn in a chair and 
buries her head in her hands. Enter a maid.] 

Maid: Mrs. Stickney is below, madame. 

Ethel [raising her head.] Send her up. 
[Exit maid. Ethel hastily arranges her hair and 
snatches up her knitting. As Mrs. Stickney en- 
ters she is busily working.] 

Mrs. Stickney : Here she is, knitting like an 
old granny. How many sweaters does this make 
you've knit, Ethel? 

Ethel: Ten. Take off your hat and coat 
and be comfortable. 

Mrs. S. : Ten ! My goodness, you've done 
your bit all right. I came a little before time, 
didn't I? What time was it we were to meet, 
anyway ? 

Ethel: I'm glad you did come early. 

Mrs. S. : Tilly told me to tell you she couldn't 
possibly get away this afternoon. All the other 
girls will be on hand, though. I saw Harold 
rushing along like a whirlwind. Where was he 
going so tempestously? 

Ethel: After his uniform. He's enlisted. 



EXEMPTION 7 

Mrs. S. : What ! 

Ethel: Yes, he's enlisted. 

Mrs. S. : But how foolish of him. He didn't 
have to, did he ? He's over draft age, too, wasn't 
he? 

Ethel: Three whole months. 

Mrs. S. : I call that downright foolishness. 
Now there's Dickie; he's in the draft. But I'm 
going to have him claim exemption. 

Ethel: Can you do that? 

Mrs. S. [taking out a pink sweater and begin- 
ning to knit] : Oh, yes, I think so, if I get a 
good lawyer. You see, he couldn't give me 
enough to live on and I'd have to go back to 
father. Business hasn't been good this year and 
he'd have to strain a point to keep me. 

Ethel: Why, Paula, I've always understood 
that your father was the richest man in town. 
At least you've said so a great many times. 

Mrs. S. : Oh, well, I can make a point of it 
if I warit to. 

Ethel: But does Dickie want exemption? 

Mrs. S. : I may as well tell you the truth. 
He does not. But I told him he simply could 
not go. I'm ill half the time now, and I'd die 
of anxiety if he went to war. 

Ethel : It takes a lot of anxiety to kill, 
Paula. 



8 EXEMPTION 

Mrs. S. : How sarcastic you are. That's an- 
other excuse I'm going to use with the lawyer. 
I thought you might like some pointers in case 
you wanted to claim exemption for Harold. 

Ethel : I couldn't get him released from 
service. He'd die of shame if I even mentioned 
it. He's wild to go. 

Mrs. S. : I know a woman whose husband en- 
listed and was in England, and she made some 
kind of a fuss. They sent the man home, too. 

Ethel: I wouldn't dare try such a scheme, 
and you'd better not, Paula. Hark, I hear the 
girls. [Enter Jean, Molly, Sue and Ruth.] 

Jean : Here we are. Have you begun an- 
other sweater, Ethel Cummings? And you, 
Paula Stickney, still knitting on pale pink. Why 
don't you knit on khaki ? 

Paula: It's such heavy yarn it tires me to 
death. 

Jean : I saw your man in the recruiting office 
in uniform, Ethel. What did that mean?' 

Ethel: He's enlisted. 

Sue: Three cheers for him. And you, too, 
Ethel — to let him go when he wasn't actually 
obliged to. 

Molly : What branch is he going in for ? 



EXEMPTION y J 

Ethel : I think he said the engineering corps. 

Sue: Of course, he has his C. E. from col- 
lege, hasn't he ? How about Dickie, Paula ? Has 
he enlisted yet? 

Paula : No, he hasn't. But he's in the draft. 
I don't think he can pass the examination, though. 

Molly: Which one — mental or physical? 

Paula: His eyes are bad, you know. I pass 
over the slur on his mental condition. And 
again I couldn't live on what he'll leave me. 

Molly: Your father's still working, isn't he? 
So long as he continues in the patent medicine 
business you should worry about Dickie's income. 

Sue: Stop squabbling, girls. It's Paula's 
own affair about Dickie, Molly. Did you know 
Dr. Bradley is going to France with a Red Cross 
unit? 

Paula: Oh, dear! He was the best doctor 
in town and the only one who understood my 
case. 

Jean : I forgot to tell you that I saw Dickie 
looking at the enlistment posters the other day, 
Paula. You mustn't let him do that or he'll get 
trench fever. 

Sue: Stop teasing Paula. 

Ruth : When does Harold go, Ethel ? 



10 EXEMPTION 

Ethel: I don't know. He's hardly in the 
service yet. I don't know very much about it 
anyway, because I — 

Paula: Oh, she isn't a bit more patriotic 
than I am. She's been trying and trying to keep 
Harold out of it, I know very well. [All girls 
look suddenly at Ethel] 

Ethel [rising] : Yes, it's true. I've tried 
everything to keep him from enlisting. I don't 
care whether I'm right or not. It's easy to be 
patriotic when you've got nobody to go, but when 
you have just one and that one your husband — 
[She sits down again and hides her face in her 
hands.] 

Ruth [going to her and patting her shoulder] : 
Don't cry, dear. I know. Didn't John go just 
as we were engaged? Don't you think it hurt? 
The only time I can bear to think of it at all is to 
think how proud I'll be when he comes home 
again. 

Ethel: If he does come home. 

Ruth : The chances are just as good for him 
to come back as not. Not every man that goes 
to war is killed by any means. 

Paula : That is what Dickie says and tries to 
prove it to me by figures. But I don't believe it. 
I don't believe all I hear about this war anyway. 
No, and I don't believe half I hear about German 
atrocities, either. 



EXEMPTION 11 

Molly : There's no use talking to you, Paula. 
You're not unpatriotic in some ways, but you're 
thoroughly selfish. [Enter Myrtle Middle ton in 
Red Cross uniform.] 

Myrtle: Good afternoon, girls. I just ran 
in to bring this letter to you, Ethel, and tell you 
my luck. I'm going to France with Dr. Bradley's 
Red Cross unit. 

Sue: Oh, Myrtle, take me with you. 

Myrtle : Go try your luck with the Doctor 
as I did. 

Paula : What do you know about nursing, 
Myrtle Middleton? 

Myrtle : Not enough to take charge of a hos- 
pital immediately, I admit, Paula. I think they'll 
break me in scrubbing floors. 

Paula : You know less about scrubbing floors 
than you do nursing. 

Myrtle : I can learn. But, say, Paula. Why 
didn't you tell me your husband had enlisted. 

Paula: He hasn't. He's in the draft, that's 
all. I'm going to claim exemption for him, too. 

Myrtle: I saw Dickie Stickney and Harold 
Cummings down town, both in uniform. Dickie 
had evidently enlisted in the navy. 

Paula : Nonsense ! You were dreaming. 



12 EXEMPTION 

Myrtle : Perhaps. But I thought I was wide 
awake,, because I spoke to them both. Here's 
your letter, Ethel. 

Ethel [taking letter] : Thank you. What a 
battered envelope ! It is covered with foreign 
post-marks, too. It must have come from abroad. 
Why, it may be from Helen Barrows. She is my 
only foreign correspondent. I haven't heard 
from her since the war broke out. Girls, you 
remember Helen. She was my roommate the 
last two years in college. She married a German 
professor and went to Germany to live. I'll read 
her letter aloud, no doubt it will be interesting. 
[Opens letter.] "Dear Ethel: — It is ages since I 
heard from you, so long I wonder if you are still 
alive. My husband was called to the colors and 
was among the first to give his life for his 
Fatherland. I have since been living with his 
people and lately have been, working in a muni- 
tion factory — " 

Paula: A munition factory! Helen Bar- 
rcws ! Why, she was the dearest, sweetest thing. 
I had a positive crush on her the summer she 
spent with you, Ethel. The idea of her working 
in a place like that. 

Molly: Don't interrupt, Paula. Read on, 
Ethel. 

Ethel: "I often think of the happy, happy 
days in America. They will never come again. 
I wonder if I will ever see home again !" * * * 
It is crossed and blotted here. Wait, I can read 



EXEMPTION 13 

this sentence : "I wish somebody would kill the 
Kaiser. It is the only thing that will end this 
awful slaughter." 

Jean : That's a queer sentence to get by the 
censor. 

Ethel : What's this. Look, Sue, do I read it 
correctly. [Sue looks over her shoulder and 
both she and Ethel read aloud very slozdy and 
distinctly.} "For writing this sentence your 
friend was shot at sunrise this morning, May 15, 
1917." [The girls look at each other in silence.} 

Jean : How terrible ! 

Ethel : She was an American citizen and 
we were not at war. How did they dare do it? 

Molly: No, she wasn't, Ethel. When a 
woman marries she becomes a citizen of her hus- 
band's country. Helen was a German subject 
and had no redress. 

Paula: Oh, I can't believe it! Helen Bar- 
rows ! [Stands up suddenly.] Dickie shall go to 
war ! I'll make him ! I wish I could go myself. 
I've never believed before stories of these things 
but now — 

Myrtle : I'm glad you read this to us, Ethel. 
We all realize more than ever before what we 
are escaping. 

Sue: We must go. I just caught sight of 
two recruits coming up the driveway. Their 
wives won't want us around when they receive 



14 EXEMPTION 

them. [Girls begin to put on wraps. Enter 
Harold Cummings and Dickie Stickney in uni- 
form.'] 

Harold: Don't run away from us, girls. 

Molly: No, we're not afraid of you, but 
we're very proud to see you in khaki on the other 
hand. Private Cummings, I salute you. Dickie, 
you're a brave man. [Harold and Dickie stand 
at attention with hands raised in salute as one by 
one the girls pass out hi front of them. Each girl 
salutes merrily as she goes. When they have gone 
Dickie and Harold wheel zvith military precision 
and face their wives, hands still raised in salute. 
In a flash Ethel brings her heels together and 
raises her hand in salute. Then she runs to- 
Harold and he puts his arm about her. Paula 
stands looking fixedly at Dickie who does not 
move an inch.] 

Ethel: Harold! Harold! I'm glad, and 
sorry and glad — [Paula runs to Dickie and shakes 
his arm.] 

Paula: Dickie, you bad boy. How did you 
dare to do it. But if you must do it, why did you 
enlist in the navy? The uniform isn't at all becom- 
ing. You look just like a hand organ monkey 
in it. 

Dickie: I tried everything and this is the 
only place that would have me. Honest to good- 
ness, Paula, it's no cinch going to war and get- 
ting the berth you want. 



EXEMPTION 15 

Paula: And you're beginning to talk sailor 
lingo so soon. "Getting a berth," you said. The 
next thing you know you will call me your 
"heartie" or something like that. You help me 
on with my coat and I'll take you home and 
teach you to respect your wife. I'll give you the 
worst wigging you ever had. [Dickie winks at 
Harold as he helps Paula on with her coat.] 

Paula: Goodbye, Ethel. Goodbye, Harold. 
You put Dickie up to this I know. You ought 
to be spanked. 

Harold : Oh, Paula, be kind to him. Be kind. 
[Exit Paula and Dickie.] Poor fellow, he'll 
get his all right. He says she's been positively 
nasty about enlisting, and has threatened to make 
a fool of him by claiming exemption for him 
if he was drafted. 

Ethel: Don't worry about Dickie. Paula 
won't say a word to him now. After you read 
this letter you'll understand. [Gives him letter.] 
But before you read it, I want to say that I 
didn't have to receive it to make me willing for 
you to go. The minute you slammed the door 
and said you were going in spite of me I was 
willing — more than that, I was proud of you. 
And— 

Harold : And — 

Ethel: I think your uniform is perfectly 
stunning. 



16 EXEMPTION 

Harold : Brass buttons, Ethel, only brass but- 
tons. 

Ethel : Women are always caught with brass 
buttons and I'm only a woman, you see. 

[curtain.] 



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